(Rothwell, Prescott, & Taylor, 1999

(Rothwell, Prescott, & Taylor, 1999). For example, the best-managed firms
venture into the international marketplace and routinely earn from 25% to
nearly 100% of their total revenues by reaching beyond their national borders
(McClenahen, 1998). Larger corporations often maintain foreign offices
in more than 100 different countries. Most of us enjoy Colombian coffee; use
Sony, Panasonic, or other Japanese equipment for entertainment, wear clothes
sewn in an Asian country; or buy gas from BP (British Petroleum) or Shell
(Dutch). Overseas, people recognize and enjoy Pepsi, Coca-Cola, Kentucky
Fried Chicken, McDonald’s, and purchase numerous U.S.-based products. For
all practical purposes, Microsoft has defined how worldwide business will be
conducted for many organizations. More specifically, “succeeding in today’s
economy requires fast reflexes and the ability to communicate and collaborate
across the globe” (Mandel, 2005, p. 60).
The euro represents a dramatic example of interconnectedness. The January
1, 1999 adoption of this common currency by 12 countries changed the
buying habits of 292 million residents. Only Britain, Denmark, Sweden, and
Greece failed to adopt the new currency, although each country reserved the
right to join later (Sancton, 1998). This represents “the biggest and most complex
peacetime logistical operation in history” (Fairlamb, 2001, p. 48). These
types of regional alliances have the potential to entirely reshape the competitive
picture.
The digital revolution, mergers, and world competition forcing even greater
demands for change in individual organizations spurn globalization’s impact.
Stewart (1993) concludes: “Paradox: Although it’s hard to imagine a more
macroeconomic subject, globalization is intensely parochial. Globalization’s
strongest effects are on companies” (p. 67) requiring organizations to embrace
change, use different communication and distribution systems, and devote
more attention to diversity. For the foreseeable future, organizational change
or discontinuity will be normal and continuity will be abnormal (Cummings &
Worley, 2005). Changes are occurring in every national and international aspect
of business and organizations. One of the most significant issues is diversity.
Diversity
Finally, diversity within and between organizations presents significant challenges
and opportunities. “Diversity exists in a group or organization when its
members differ from one another along one or more important dimensions”
including gender, ethnic origin, age, and many other factors (Denisi & Griffin,
2005, p. 509). The entire make-up of the organizational world has been
changing and this will continue with substantial increases in participation by
traditional minorities and dramatic changes in demographics, multicultural
backgrounds, and interests. The growth in female, African American, Hispanic,
and Asian workers means the end of the traditional dominance by white
males. Clearly, diversity encompasses more than gender or ethnic background.
• Applied Organizational Communication
Age, physical characteristics, educational level, living arrangements (including
single, traditional, dual-income, divorced, and same-sex), all provide an
increasingly diverse organizational make-up (Cummings & Worley, 2005).
All workforce segments will increase as a percentage of the total workforce
(except white males, whose numbers declined from 46.4% to 38.4% by 2005).
There is a much greater likelihood we will be working with individuals who are
not from the groups we traditionally associate with, than with such a group.
Add the internationalization of many organizations and we are likely to be
reporting to superiors, working with colleagues, and directing subordinates
from different countries. This trend is unlikely to decrease because, nationally
and internationally, “companies promote diversity primarily because it makes
good business sense” (Bolman & Deal, 2003, p. 153).
The workforce changes are important. “For four decades, the number of
women entering the workforce grew at a blistering pace, fostering a powerful
cultural and economic transformation of American society” (Porter, 2006,
p. A1). In 2000, “some 77% of women in the prime ages of 25 to 54 were in
the workforce” (Porter, 2006, p. A1). However, there has been a leveling off of
women in the workplace due to the increasing difficulty of balancing homeand
family-related responsibilities with work demands (Porter, 2006).
By the year 2050, the U.S. population will increase by 50%, with immigration
accounting for almost two thirds of that growth, which will create an
increased need for multicultural understanding (Griffin, 2005). “By then, about
half of all Americans will belong to what are now considered minority groups”
according the U.S. Department of Labor’s 1999 report (Associated Press, 1999,
p. 5B). The 2000 census revealed that 3 in 10 people in the United States are
minorities; 6.8 million people identified themselves as multiracial; Hispanics
make up 12.5% of the population, exceeding the African American population
of 12.1%; and Asian Americans make up 3.6% of the population (Kasindorf &
El Nasser, 2001). “By 2050, 21% of Americans will be claiming mixed ancestry”
(Kasindorf & El Nasser, 2001, p. 2A). A USA Today/CNN/Gallup Poll revealed
that 64% of the 1,015 respondents felt it “would be good for the country to have
more Americans thinking of themselves as multiracial rather than belonging
to a single race” with 24% viewing this possibility as a bad outcome (Kasindorf
& El Nasser, 2001, p. A1). Three quarters of the respondents in the 19–29-yearold
age group greeted a multiracial country positively.
The new economy fostered by rapid change, globalization, and the digital
age “favors workers who excel in manipulating information and solving
problems. And, as it turns out, the biggest pool of workers with that skill set is
women” (Farrell, 1999, p. 35). The Women’s Research & Education Institute of
Washington reports that U.S. women have been obtaining higher education
degrees at a rapidly increasing rate and for the first time “the group of women
between the ages of 25 and 35 have more education than their male counterparts”
earning the majority of associate, bachelor’s, and master’s degrees
Adopting a Perspective •
(Farrell, 1999, p. 35). However, these demographic increases are not reflected
in promotions or positions. In 1998, members of minority groups represented
only 12.4% of the officials and managers (Johnson, 1998). This is unfortunate,
as an American Management Association and Business and Professional
Women’s Foundation study of more than 1,000 executives found that “management
diversity is directly correlated with superior organizational performance”
(“Diversity boosts,” 1999, p. 5). Three key results of the study were:
(1) Diversity breeds success because of the mixture of genders, ethnic backgrounds,
and ages in senior management teams; (2) hiring diverse newcomers
from the outside boosts performance; and (3) organizations that include
senior managers under the age of 40 show a greater success pattern than those
with exclusively older top executives.
Two-career families are becoming the norm, more individuals in the workforce
are over 65 than in their teens, and women and people of color will outnumber
the past majorities represented by white males. Once again, these
shifts present new issues, challenges, and opportunities. “Today, in nearly four
out of five couples—compared with one out of five in 1950—both partners
are in the labor force, with women working nearly as many hours as men”
(Hunter, 1999, p. 39). We have already indicated that some women are choosing
not to work due to other commitments. However, the impact on couples
where both are employed is undeniable.
Generation Y, numbering around 67 million and aged 20–29 (Fisher,
2006), comprise the second largest group of individuals to be entering the
workforce. They are outnumbered only by the baby boomers who are discussed
shortly. They seek flexibility, mobility, and different incentives than the
security presented by earlier employment situations. An even more focused
analysis includes the 42 million 16-to-25-year-olds who are also known as
millennials or echo boomers (Jayson, 2006). This group shows great potential
(having grown up with diversity and multiculturalism as facts of life), is more
educated, faces fewer gender or ethnic barriers, and has a strong technological
literacy. However, they have come of age in a globally competitive world
where the path to the middle class is no longer a high school diploma (Jayson,
2006). In fact, “we live in a knowledge economy. What you know is beginning
to count almost as much as who you know. Educational degrees are slowly
becoming mere driver’s licenses when looking for a job and moving from one
job to the other. What you know and specialize beyond the credentials is what
counts” (Issak, 2005, p. 214). Not everyone in this age group strives to be a
high achiever.
Social scientists have identified an additional subgroup, twixters, who are
adults who still live with their parents, feel free to job hop, and generally seem
to be going nowhere (Grossman, 2005). “The percentage of 26-year-olds living
with their parents has nearly doubled since 1970, from 11% to 20%” (Grossman,
2005, p. 44). Although this group may seem directionless, many sociologists
10 • Applied Organizational Communication
attribute this apparent aimlessness to an attempt to choose the right path and
to the willingness of family and society to accept the lifestyle. When contrasted
with the same age bracket 40 years ago, “researchers found that by
age 30, a much smaller percentage today (46% or women and 31% of men)
have finished school, left home, gotten married, had a child or reached financial
independence” (Jayson, 2006, p. 2D). For organizations depending on a
youthful infusion, this tech